urn:taro:utexas.aaa.00128Kent S. Butler papers,1971-2011The University of Texas at Austin. University of Texas
Libraries. Alexander Architectural Archive.Provisional record created by Tiffany Criswell using XMetaL 3.0
on
July 2012Finding aid written in
English.
Collection Summary
Butler, Kent S.,
1951-2011Kent S. Butler papers
1971-2011BUTLR Accession No.: 201101020 lin. ft. manuscript
materialAlexander Architectural Archive,
University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at
Austin.Kent S. Butler was an urban,
rural, and regional planner; community activist; and educator. He was an
assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin from 1978 to 2011.
Some of his most noteworthy projects include the regional vision for the
Galveston Bay Estuary Program, the creation of a system to evaluate proposed large-scale coastal erosion and
control, the promotion of the Texas Triangle as a megaregion, the development
of the first regional habitat conservation plan for endangered species in the
Balcones Canyonlands of Central Texas, and water planning for the establishment
of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District. The collection includes research materials and notes; applications,
proposals, and permits; transparencies and presentation notes; newsletters and
clippings; project and research files; workshop materials; surveys;
correspondence; reports; and documents relating to Butler's administrative
faculty positions. These materials document his teaching, consulting, and
community projects.
Biographical Sketch of Kent S. Butler (1951 - 2011)

Kent S. Butler, born in 1951, was an urban, rural, and regional
planner; community activist; and educator. He completed bachelor's (1973),
master's (1976), and doctoral (1977) degrees in environmental science, land and
water resources management, and land resources, respectively, at the University
of Wisconsin at Madison. He began his academic career as an assistant professor
at The University of Texas at Austin in 1978, and took a two-year sabbatical
from 1986 to 1988 to help create, and serve as director of, the Natural
Resources Division for the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Butler was the director of the graduate Community and Regional
Planning program at UT from 1993 to 1997, and again from 2004 until 2011, when
he also served as associate dean for research and operations for the School of
Architecture. He was known as an effective and engaging speaker with broad
expertise in community planning and resource management. He was committed to
collaboration and received his certification in mediation and training in
public policy dispute resolution through the University of Texas School of
Law.

He was widely published and wrote hundreds of reports and analyses as a
professional consultant, as well as hundreds of papers for symposia and conferences. Butler co-edited the student edition of
Planning and Urban Design Standards, a fundamental text for the planning
profession. He spoke internationally in France, China, Mexico, Italy, Canada,
and Puerto Rico. Butler's perhaps best-known achievement was the creation of
the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. The Balcones Canyonlands
Habitat Preservation Plan represented the first functional application of the
Federal Endangered Species Act and set the standard still used today. Other noteworthy projects include the regional vision for
the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, the creation of a system to evaluate
proposed large-scale coastal erosion and control, the promotion of the Texas
Triangle as a megaregion, and water planning for the establishment of the Barton Springs/Edwards
Aquifer Conservation District.

Butler died in a hiking accident on May 13, 2011, in Yosemite
National Park. A section of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve was named in his
honor in September 2011. He was survived by his wife and four children.

Scope and Content of the collection

The collection includes research materials and notes; applications,
proposals, and permits; transparencies and presentation notes; newsletters and
clippings; project and research files; workshop materials; surveys;
correspondence; reports; and documents relating to Butler's administrative
faculty positions. These materials document his teaching, consulting, and
community projects.

Restrictions on Access

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Preferred Citation

Kent S. Butler papers, Alexander Architectural Archive, University of
Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

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Index Terms

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